Aloe-emodin (AE) is a promising anti-tumor candidate for its significant activity against various tumors such as lung cancer, hepatic cancer, breast cancer and so on. Nevertheless, AE is clinically limited due to its poor water solubility and low bioavailability. This study was designed to prepare AE-loaded solid lipid nanoparticles (AE-SLNs) in an attempt to improve the anti-cancer efficacy of AE. The AE-SLNs were prepared with optimized prescription using high pressure homogenization (HPH) technique. Ultimately, the AE-SLNs showed stable particle size at 88.9 ± 5.2 nm, ideal drug entrapment efficiency (EE) of 97.71 ± 0.5% and good stability with regard to zeta-potential as high as -42.8 mV. The in vitro release profiles revealed that AE achieved sustained release by loading into SLNs. Moreover, AE-SLNs showed significantly higher in vitro cytotoxicity against human breast cancer MCF-7 cells and human hepatoma HepG2 cells as compared to the AE solution, while they showed no significant toxicity on human mammary epithelial MCF-10A cells. Hoechst 33342 staining and Annexin V/PI double staining indicated that AE-SLNs induced higher apoptotic rates in MCF-7 cells. Further study elucidated that the improved anti-cancer efficacy may be attributed to the increased cellular uptake of AE. Based on these findings, we believe that the development of AE-SLNs is an effective way for improving the anti-cancer efficacy of AE. © 2014 Informa Healthcare USA, Inc. All rights reserved.